Scenes of East Tennessee from the 1950s

The News Sentinel reported that Andy, 4, left, and Mark Feldman, 6, got the thrill of their lives when mighty Fess Parker picked them up May 30, 1955 at the Andrew Johnson Hotel. They are the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Irving Feldman of New York City, working temporarily at Oak Ridge. (KNS Archive)

Knoxville News Sentinel

An arrow points out Republican Presidential nominee Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower during an Oct. 15, 1952 campaign appearance at Knoxville's Municipal Airport. In his speech, Ike assured the crowd there was "no disposition on my part to impair the effective working out of TVA." News Sentinel Editor Loye Smith was among the dignitaries on the dais. (KNS Archive)

Knoxville News Sentinel

Gen. Robert Neyland and the 1950 University of Tennessee football team celebrate after winning the 1951 Cotton Bowl. (KNS Archive)

KNS Photo

Country and western stars Carl and Pearl Butler were married in Knoxville in 1947. Carl performed with the Lonesome Pine Boys on WNOX's 'The Midday Merry-Go-Round' and Cas Walker's 'Farm and Home Hour.' In 1962 they recorded "Don't Let Me Cross Over (Love's Cheating Line),' a No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart. Pearl died Feb. 29, 1988. Carl died Sept. 4, 1992. (KNS Archive)

Knoxville News Sentinel

In a Dec. 7, 1959 photograph, the interior of the Market House is seen after being gutted by fire. (KNS Archive)

After unrest flared again in December 1956, members of the "Clinton 12" were escorted for their own protection down Broad Street to Clinton High School. The students are, from left, Regina Turner, Gail Epps, Minnie Ann Dickey, Alvah McSwain, and Maurice Soles. 12/10/1956. (KNS Archive)

In a Nov. 21, 1957, photograph, white supremacist John Kasper, convicted of interfering with the integration of Clinton High School, is taken from County jail to serve a 18-month sentence at the federal prison in Tallahassee, Fla. "I'm going to Florida for a vacation," said Kasper to News Sentinel photographer Bill Dye. His reading material includes Adolf Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' and 'Waters Flowing Eastward: The War Against the Kingship of Christ' by L. Fry. (KNS Archive)

Knoxville News Sentinel

Republican Presidential nominee Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower waves to the crowd during an Oct. 15, 1952 campaign appearance at Knoxville's Municipal Airport. The News Sentinel account noted that Ike sported a red rose on his lapel and "appeared to be wearing some kind of make-up, possibly for the benefit of motion picture and television cameras." (KNS Archive)

Knoxville News Sentinel

In an August 1950 photograph, SSgt. Emerson Stewart of Oak Ridge departs the Southern Station on Depot Avenue after his 19th Engineer Marine Reserves unit was called up for active duty in the Korean War. The News Sentinel caption writer recorded his wife's name only as Mrs. Stewart. Their children are 15-month-old Stephen and five-year-old E.N. III. (KNS Archive)

Knoxville News Sentinel

Andy Kozar, a running back on 1951 University of Tennessee national championship team. Kozar earned a doctorate and became an UT professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science. (KNS Archive)

In an Aug. 1958 photograph, Tennessee National Guardsmen confront agitators in downtown Clinton shortly after marshal law is imposed in response to unrest sparked by the first court-ordered integration of a public school in the South. 08/01/1956 (KNS Archive)

In a May 6, 1960 photograph, workers demolish the ruins of the Market House which was gutted by fire five months earlier. (KNS Archive)

Knoxville News Sentinel

In a Feb. 6, 1959, photograph, Mayor Jack Dance greets Claudette Riley at Municipal Airport after she returned from winning the Miss Majorette of America title at the Winter Carnival in St. Paul, Minn. Dance died in office little more than two months later. (KNS Archive)

The Gibbs High School Future Farmers of America float was judged the best entry in the Dairy Month Parade June 4, 1957. On the float are Linda Copeland, left, Faye Tindell, Nancy Cardwell and Nancy Orr. They were dubbed the 'Moo Cow Messengers' by a News Sentinel caption writer. (KNS Archive)

Knoxville News Sentinel

Clad in buckskins, 'Davy Crockett' actor Fess Parker is greeted by Mayor George Dempster May 30, 1955 at Knoxville's Municipal Airport. The News Sentinel reported Parker was much impressed with the mayor's jokes. "The acting profession lost a fine comedian when Mayor Dempster decided to make money instead of movies," he said.(KNS Archive)

Knoxville News Sentinel

A promotional photograph from "Thunder Road," a 1958 film that tells the story of the death of moonshine runner Luke Doolin. Robert Mitchum wrote the story and song of the same name, put up the production money and cast himself as lead in the movie. (KNS Archive)

Knoxville News Sentinel

Interstate 40 takes shape beside the new West Hills subdivision in the 1950s. Kingston Pike is at the lower left. (KNS Archive)

Three students at Clinton High School picket their school as it became the first state-supported school in Tennessee to integrate, Aug. 27, 1956. The boys are, from left, Buddy Trammell, Max Stiles and Tommy Sanders. Trammell and Sanders later discarded the pro-segregation signs and reported to classes. (AP Photo)

AP

An angry mob tries to overturn a car carrying blacks passing through Clinton, Tenn., in a file photo from Aug. 31, 1956. The driver sped away before the doors were opened. The mob was motivated by the start of court-ordered desegregation three days earlier at Clinton High School. (AP Photo/Gene Herrick)

AP

In an Aug. 26, 1950, photograph, C.W. "Buddy" Jones shows off the Cadillac given by his sister when he was elected sheriff. (KNS Archive)

Knoxville News Sentinel

Singer-songwriter Don Gibson, his wife Polly Bratcher Gibson, and their 4-month-old daughter Autumn Scarlet moved into this West Hills home at 8015 Corteland Drive in February 1960. A News Sentinel story reported the couple paid $38,500 for the house and that their previous address was 917 East Woodland Avenue. (KNS Archive)

Knoxville News Sentinel

In a Dec. 7, 1959 photograph, Anna & Ed's Sandwich Shop in the Market House is seen after being gutted by fire. (KNS Archive)

Cowboy Copas, left, and Eddy Arnold provide a backstage photo opportunity for a News-Sentinel camera at the Hillbilly Homecoming July 1, 1954 in Maryville. (KNS Archive)

Knoxville News Sentinel

A January 1958 portrait of singer-songwriter Don Gibson. (KNS Archive)

Knoxville News Sentinel

Knoxville City Council members Cas Walker, left, and J.S. Cooper duke it out at a March 1956 meeting. The photograph was taken by Knoxville Journal photographer Tom Greene and appeared in the March 19, 1956 issue of Life Magazine. (Tom Greene, McClung Historical Collection)

McClung Historical Collection

A group of students, including three black students, gather around their teacher on the lawn of the bombed Clinton High School for a makeshift class in Clinton, Tenn., Oct. 7, 1958. Most of the school was destroyed, but no one was hurt. Violence persisted for two years following court-ordered desegregation in 1956. (AP Photo, File)

AP

Singer-songwriter Don Gibson and his wife Polly Bratcher Gibson, January 12, 1958. A bitter divorce ended their marriage in July 1963. (KNS Archive)